Bhav trying to fit in with the locals
A mini sphinx
The Sphinx at Giza
Our trusty camels, quite frankly the best way to see the pyramids
The pyramids at Giza
Archive for the 'Africa' Category
Since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt and throughout the trip I was looking forward to it, even if it meant that out time in Africa was coming to an end. It was nice to be in Cairo and was a great way to recover from Mount Kilimanjaro. We timed our arrival to Cairo perfectly with the start of Eid and the celebrations that mark the end of Ramadan. I’d never experienced anything like it before. For the 3 days of Eid shops were closed and the streets were empty during the day but alive well into the night. It might be clichéd to say there was a carnival atmosphere but entire families were out, everyone wearing brand new clothes, celebrating. On our second night there we walked down to the Nile to see why the throngs of people crowded its banks but besides the crazy antics of the brightly lit boats pirouetting on the water, people just seemed to want to be outside.
I’m not a seasoned climber and I don’t pretend to have conducted extensive research into every aspect of the climb of one of the highest mountains in Africa but on talking with many people, reading my guidebook and searching online we ended up with a difficult to beat all-inclusive deal. Out of all the people we talked to on the mountain there wasn’t anyone paying less and with the supplied porters, transfers to and from Nairobi, pre booking of overnight huts and hotel the night before we got a lot more than a cheap price. This isn’t an advert for any one company (although I’d be extremely happy to recommend the people at Nairobi Youth Hostel who arranged ours) but just a bit of background on what you might need to do and how you need to organise it so you have a great (and hopefully successful) experience.
It usually takes either 5 or 6 days to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and it’s quite an undertaking but that’s not to say anyone of adequate fitness won’t be able to do it. We met a guy from Ireland in his 50’s who almost made it and the youngest ever to climb it was 9!
Whilst it is possible to arrange everything yourself, even hiring porters that congregate at the park gate and extra clothing just opposite; we didn’t have the time or desire to do the leg work ourselves. It was also doubtful if it would offer much of a saving unless you had a desire to heavily customise your trip, like if you wanted to use on of the less walked routes. In Africa, more than anywhere else, foreigners (especially whites) are charged often a lot more than locals for things and since mountain climbing is preserve of tourists it attracts quite high prices anyway making it much better for a local company to organise better prices and pass the saving on to you.
Being young people living in the 21st Century our first reaction was to check climbing packages online, to not only gauge prices but to see what we should look for. The guidebooks we had (even though only a year old) quoted widely inaccurate prices throughout our trip so we had already resigned ourselves to having to spend at least US$900 each. Luckily since we went in a group of 4 and did some pretty strong negotiating (plus we used the same people for our Masai Mara safari) we managed to get it for that price (the most I heard people pay was £900 which at the time was twice as much and they didn’t even get most of the perks).
Negotiating has to be the main point of this post. People don’t always like it but it proved to be very useful and if you’re in Africa you’ll negotiate on pretty much every purchase anyway. By avoiding websites and talking to real people we could negotiate a package that suited us and at a great price. I can guarantee that booking it in a travel office in Edinburgh wouldn’t be nearly as good or cheap! Talking to locals and company staff also helped us get our climbing gear (don’t rent at the gate as it’s extortionately expensive) and chatting with people that had just returned, either successfully or not, bagged us stuff like energy tablets and sunscreen.
This isn’t a replacement for reading a guidebook but is our experience and I wouldn’t change the way we organised any of it. One last thing to remember is that your tip to the various members of your entourage should be at least 10% of the total cost so bear that in mind. We had 11 people split between the 4 of us! The proportions are different between guides, porters and everyone else but it’s important not to forget the effort they put in and the tiny pay they receive from the companies. Without them you wouldn’t have made it!
We were introduced to Stanley, our guide for the mountain and the other 10 in our entourage early that morning and set about the 2 hour drive to the camp gate (altitude 1860m).
“Pole Pole” (slowly slowly) was the method suggested by Stanley for the climb along the Marangu Route and after a gentle upwards stroll through rainforest we arrived in Mandara Hut (altitude 2774m). Mandara is a basic place consisting of a number of A-frame wooden huts in a clearing with the largest A-frame being the dining hall. Meals were initially quite good (compared with what we’d been eating before) although usually came in oversized portions. The Milo wasn’t destined to last long with the amount that Bridget and I used.
That night was cold and the following morning was our introduction to the shower problem, basically if you showered you’d quickly turn into an icicle. It’s was either bed baths or nothing. We were given 2 bowls of hot water between the 4 of us so Craig and I decided to let Bhav and Bridget use them since we were going for the “authentic mountaineer experience”.
The second day was an easy hike up through the clouds to Horombo (altitude 3720m) where in the evening it really got cold. We were there for 2 nights as the next day was our acclimatization day. The French couple we had started off walking with didn’t have the acclimatization day so headed off early. Our extra day was spent climbing up to Zebra Rock (4000m), a natural rock outcrop of a black igneous rock discoloured with white marks forming the stripes. The day trip allowed us a view of the following days exercise; the trip to Kibo hut (altitude 4703m) and the summit. Up until that point I wasn’t sure I’d make it but it didn’t look nearly as bad as I thought it would.
The higher we went, the slower we walked. The last of the path to Kibo Hut was almost flat but by various peoples admission you’d almost get out of breath walking from your bunk to the bathroom less than 50m away.
The “hut” wasn’t the small A-frames we were used to but was a brick building with smaller for porters nearby.
We arrived around 2 pm and the plan was to sleep (we had our packed lunch en route) till we had to get up at 11 pm. In the end I managed about 30 minutes of a doze but after dinner we tried again and I slept really well.
By the time 11 pm came it was very cold (I was in my sleeping bag wearing all the clothes I had walked there in). I had to quickly scramble to put on more clothes to retain heat. In the end I had 10 layers on my top half for the climb and 4 on the bottom! The guide, Stanley (one of the 3 coming up the mountain with us) had a good laugh about my jacket (The smart dry clean only one I used to wear to work) so I decided to put a shirt on underneath purely for effect.
Feeling tired, decidedly amateur, slightly nauseous and grateful that they’d let me climb when everyone else was wearing “proper climbing kit” like fleeces we set off from the hut for the long walk upwards.
It was about 12:30 am and there was quite a few people in front of us lightning up the bottom of the scree slope with their head torches. It was at that point I started to agree with our guide and his “Pole Pole” (pronounced like the é in café) method but they seemed to think we were ok to rush up. We must have overtaken every group including the 21 Spaniards. This was the most challenging part of the mountain, what with the scree being like walking through sand, the thin air making us breath 4 times faster than normal and it being the steepest part so it was understandable if people give up. We soldiered on however. It really did feel like climbing a sand dune whilst breathing through a straw. The zig zag route up the slope helped but frequent stops were required more and more often the higher we got.
Gillmans Point (altitude 5685m) was a welcome sight, marking the end of the scree slope. It took us about 4 hours to get there (the sign said 5 hours!) and by that point most people were running on reserve energy (the chocolate and energy drinks still in my bag due to my uneasy stomach). The remainder was proof of how the lack of oxygen makes everything so much more difficult.
From Gillmans Point to the summit it was much flatter and would usually be considered a gentle stroll at sea level but became a stumble of 5 steps followed by a break to catch my breath. The final 20m up the gentlest of slopes was absolute murder. Eventually we made it (Bhav having found some energy and getting there first). I threw my walking pole and bag down and sat on a rock to get my breath and look at the sunrise that had just broken. We’d done it; we’d climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and managed to do it at the perfect time. The narrow band of light slowly turned from the deepest purple to bright orange and besides our group there was only 4 or 5 other people there to enjoy it with us.
The plan to drink champagne/Bacardi/vodka (I didn’t bring anything alcoholic) didn’t happen as after the climb we were too tired and despite the sunrise it was still at least -15C.
We must have stayed for less than 15 minutes at the summit before we started our decent. Jeandre (A South African guy that had been adopted into our group) started feeling a bit the worse for it so was sent on ahead.
Being able to see the slope we’d just climbed really emphasised how far we’d climbed (and if I’d been able to see what we were doing earlier I might have found it a lot more difficult). It took us over an hour to slide our way down the scree (imagine skiing but without the skis) and we were pretty tired when we got back to Kibo Hut. After breakfast (the cook had obviously stopped trying) we had to rush back to Horombo Hut eventually arriving at 4pm.
The following morning with people complaining of blisters and everyone else looking forward to getting off the mountain, we set off on the easiest stretch back through the rainforest to the gate. From the gate we went to Arusha then caught the transfer bus to Nairobi. Due to the traffic and terrible roads it was after 9 before we got back to the Nairobi Youth Hostel.
Dinner that evening (we snacked at the Total Garage round the corner from the hostel) was eaten at an airport café. We’d expected Nairobi airport (for our flight to Cairo), with it being the main entry point into one of the most popular tourist destinations in Africa, to be a lot busier.
The menu was basic but catered to a western palate. After the lack of choice in mountain food it was what we were looking forward to; having a choice in what we ate. It wasn’t long before we all came to the conclusion that the waitress didn’t really have a clue. Eventually we all managed to order food they actually had but it wasn’t until we came to pay for it that we had problems. Mine was simple; the logical construction of “ham and cheese sandwich”. Supposedly this meant ham OR cheese and not both as is the norm, so they charged me double for having both. Trying to tell her about propositional logic and the differences between exclusive and inclusive OR wasn’t going to work and they threatened to call security. Unfortunately it seems to be standard procedure in Africa to hold waiting staff accountable for any short fall in money and mistakes. So out of sympathy for the waitress I gave in knowing that I didn’t her wage would be docked the price of a sandwich.
The hardened mountaineers at the start of their climb
Horombo Hut
“This mountain climbing lark isn’t difficult!”
Zebra Rock
First view of the summit
The highway to the summit
The nutters that camped next to Kibo hut
Jeandre and I celebrate at the top
You haven’t climbed Mt Kili till you are in a picture like this
Sunrise at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
We left the Youth Hostel in Nairobi for Arusha in Tanzania for the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world. The journey took about 6 hours due largely to the terrible condition of the Kenyan roads but it was start of 6 days of having everything planned for us so it was good not to have to worry about where we were going to stay, etc.
The hotel in Arusha was surprisingly decent for what little we’d paid for the whole trip and if you forget about the strange lack of water in the pipes and the fact that I broke the shower when trying to fill the toilet, the room was quite nice.
In the afternoon we tracked down some equipment for the climb since we hadn’t come all the prepared (I did at least have some thick socks!) and in the evening we met up with Craig who we hadn’t seen since Zanzibar.
Our supposed 6:30 am start was delayed by a few minutes while we got ready. The animals are most active just after sunrise. We still had our 2wd Toyota Hiace Minivan (imported from the streets of Japan) to ourselves but we were also joined by a spotter.
Bhav fell asleep a few times during the 7 am – 4 pm safari and at one point uttered the words “you woke me up for some elephants” as if they were a common sight. We did manage to see quite a few other animals including hippos which had eluded us for almost the entire trip.
We’d arranged with our driver Odis, to go to the nearby Masai village to look around and meet the people. After 4 pm we were dropped off and the first thing the Masai that greeted us wanted was money. This we expected, having already asked what we should expect to pay. Odis had said US$10 was fair but they wanted rather a lot more but unlike other things it’s difficult to negotiate with someone’s culture.
The man that took the money left us with our new guide, the chiefs son (what with the entrance fee I was almost expecting a ticket) and we entered the village of 200 people. All the inhabitants were relations due to it being founded by one man, our guides grandfather. That rather strange thought in our heads we were treated to more jumping up and down (dancing) and a tour of their village. After that we were taken down the road to the school, where after a brief tour they asked for more money. Considering that part of the rather large original fee was to go to the school it was fair to feel a little cheated and refuse but it was the kids and their education which I wanted to help.
Hippos on the opposite bank
Lions enjoying the sunset
We got up early for the first day of the 3 day safari. Bridget, Hasith and Yu-Ching had booked (and paid for as it turned out) for their Masai Mara safari costing them about US$500 whilst we had paid US$285 for only a day less. Before they’d arrived the previous night we’d hoped they would have been able to cancel theirs and come with us but it wasn’t to be. In the end their minivan left with just the 3 of them and ours (we were expecting to have to join a larger group) left with just Bhav and I.
The roads in Kenya are rubbish, so it took us a long time to drive to our camp (situated about 1km from the main gate) and backed directly onto the National Park). We just had a few hours of our game drive that day.
The camp itself was quite nice. We had a twin bed tent to ourselves within 20m of the dining hall and toilets. There was hardly anyone else there too due to it being a short time after the migration which is the real attraction. That’s not to say animals weren’t still crossing from the Serengeti (in Tanzania) to the Masai Mara (in Kenya) across the river but just that they weren’t moving in huge numbers any more.
After a surprisingly good dinner we were treated to a short routine of traditional Masai “dancing” performed by the local Masai that also acted as guards to protect the camp against dangerous animals (I forgot to mention there was no fence either around the camp or the national park). I’d read about Masai dancing and how it was basically just jumping up and down and they were right. Unfortunately with there being only the 2 of us watching them around the camp fire they got us up too.
Home sweet home
The Masai herding their animals
Bhav wanted to go shopping and I just wanted to explore Nairobi. We’d seen a lot of the city from the taxi and it looked like quite a big city with some attractive buildings. Nairobi is a very western city with high rise buildings, wide open parks and funky colonial buildings. The city centre was only a short walk from the hostel. We found out about a weekly souvenir market that happened to coincide with our visit so we headed for that. Luckily the EgyptAir office was overlooking the market so we went there first to book our flights to Cairo. After that we headed over to the market but we bumped into a guy called John who wanted to talk to us.
My namesake told us he was a teacher and asked if we would mind telling him about our countries. Feeling suitably flattered and in need of lunch we headed off with him to a nearby cafe. It soon became apparent that he was actually just after money and a free lunch. In the end I gave him 100 shillings (£0.88) so we could escape.
We got off the sleeping coach at around 6 am. Buses leave really early in Africa and we’d already missed quite a few but after stumbling to the bank we managed to catch one to Nairobi (without paying the inflated tourist price).
It was a long bus ride (we eventually got to Nairobi after 6 pm) made longer by the appalling state of the Kenyan roads. They seemed to have dug up their entire road network in one go and unlike western countries there was no temporary road surface.
Hasith (Bhav’s friend) had booked a bed at the Nairobi Youth Hostel for the following evening after they arrived so we decided to stay there too. Having not showered since Pemba and being pretty tired we just went to the Chinese restaurant around the corner for dinner.
We only intended to spend 1 night at Swahili Divers but it ended up being 2, what with it being such a difficult island to get off. Raf was heading to the airport to fly to Zanzibar so we hitched a lift. Our only means of leaving the island was to fly (or wait a further 2 days for the ferry). We booked a flight with Coastal and spent the time before the flight on the net in Chake Chake. Where, because it was still Ramadan I had to discreetly eat my “lunch” (plain biscuits were all I could find) in the corner.
When the plane arrived Bhav and I were the only people waiting. The plane was a 13 seater Cessna but any hopes of having it all to ourselves were dashed when we walked closer and saw 3 others inside. The reason for the odd numbered 13th seat was due to their being no co-pilot. Unfortunately the best seat in the house was already occupied but we could at least get the 1st row. The flight to Tanga was quite short at about 20 minutes but we certainly enjoyed the view.
The luxury of the plane wasn’t matched by the next form of transport, another overnight bus this time to Mombasa in Kenya. Our taxi driver from the airport suggested we should get a bus in the day time due to “banditry” but we didn’t want to waste more time and money.
It took about 2 hours before we arrived at the border, where Bhav got into Kenya for free whilst I was charged US$50 for the privilege. We arrived in Mombasa after midnight and slept on a coach.
Our escape route from Pemba
Welcome to Tanga